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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971888">Trainwreck in Slow Motion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeanutButterWhiskeyTime/pseuds/PeanutButterWhiskeyTime'>PeanutButterWhiskeyTime</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bella Swan Has a Twin, Original Character-centric, Reincarnation, Self-Insert, i love that that's a tag</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 11:47:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,158</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971888</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeanutButterWhiskeyTime/pseuds/PeanutButterWhiskeyTime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Am I the most attractive woman out there? Of course not.<br/>But do I have a good personality? Well, no.<br/>But do I wake up every day and try to be the best person that I can be? Also no." --- Un Poco Loco</p><p>Meredith woke up as Bella Swan's twin sister and she's honestly feeling so attached right now.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bella Swan &amp; Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>199</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Trainwreck in Slow Motion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mauisse_Flowers/gifts">Mauisse_Flowers</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Do I have other things I should be working on? Yes, but this year has been a raging dumpster fire and I need comfort fic. Nothing is abandoned but all progress on other fics is glacially slow and also Mauisse basically dared me to do this, so. Uh. Here I am. Doing this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking up in Forks, WA, in an alternate world where she was Bella Swan’s identical twin would have been a lot weirder if she hadn’t gotten some sort of freaky memory download. Meredith hadn’t decided yet if she was a teenager or a thirty-something, based on both sets of memories and a combined total of nearly fifty years of lived experience, but she supposed it didn’t matter much in the long run.</p><p>She didn’t really expect to <em>survive</em>, in the long run.</p><p>...</p><p>“Nervous about your first day?”</p><p><em>‘Nervous’ does not even <strong>begin</strong> to cover it,</em> Meredith thought.</p><p>She smiled sunnily across the table at the man who had been a fictional character <em>yesterday</em>, and was her father <em>today</em>. “Nervous about starting a week late, in the second semester of my junior year, at a super tiny school where everyone else has grown up together? Psh! Why would I be <em>nervous</em>?”</p><p>To be fair, she was indeed nervous about going back to high school. It was, perhaps, taking the tenth spot on her internal checklist of things to freak out about. It wasn’t like she could actually say: <em>I’m nervous about <strong>vampires</strong>, Charlie. I’m nervous about tasty-sweet blood and mind readers and emotion manipulators and future-tellers and lupine shapeshifters and the militant secret-keeping of the local supernatural contingents</em>.</p><p>Charlie eyed the way her fingers were drumming on the table. “You’ll be fine, kid. You’ve got that… <em>Renee gene</em> for talkin’ to people and makin’ friends.”</p><p>Meredith politely contained herself to merely <em>snorting</em> instead of outright laughing in his face. “I’m good at small talk, dad, but there’s miles of difference between chatting with strangers and actually making <em>lifelong friends</em>. Just because I’m not quite as awkward as you and Bella, that doesn’t mean I’m not awkward <em>at all</em>.”</p><p>“Hey now,” he said mildly. “I’m not <em>awkward</em>. I’m <em>taciturn</em>.”</p><p>Meredith rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling fondly at the man. “Keep telling yourself that.”</p><p>They both turned as Bella finally stumbled – literally – into the kitchen.</p><p>“Dibs on passenger,” Meredith said immediately, referring to the upcoming drive.</p><p>Bella grimaced but nodded, coming closer so she could rifle through the backpack laid out on the table. “Do you have the—”</p><p>“Dad gave me money for our lunches.”</p><p>“And our—”</p><p>“Hard copy transcripts, yes.”</p><p>“Okay, so. We’re set,” Bella said.</p><p>“Yep.”</p><p>She continued standing there, staring into her backpack as if it might hold the secrets to the universe.</p><p>Meredith made eye contact with Charlie and mouthed, ‘Awkward.’</p><p>This time it was Charlie’s turn to snort.</p><p>…</p><p>The thing of it was, her memories of being Meredith Helen Swan <em>matched</em> with the other memories of the nameless thirty-something. Nothing she remembered struck her as out of place. The person she had apparently been in both lives was fundamentally the same. In one life she’d been one of several children, and in the other an identical twin, but in both lives she was <em>dramatic</em> and <em>loud</em> and liked theater and books in equal measure.</p><p>There was a part of her, a small part that was easily stifled, that wanted to panic about the <em>whats</em> and <em>whys</em>. Why was she <em>here?</em> Why <em>her?</em> What <em>happened?</em> But when she asked those questions she got a weird sort of feeling, a certainty that was so solid and unshakeable that her questions just…dried up. Why was she here? Because <em>here</em> is where she was <em>meant to be</em>. Why her? Because this was where she <em>belonged</em>. What happened? That other life had ended, <em>this</em> life was in the process of being lived.</p><p>The strangest thing on a long list of strange things was that it didn’t feel like the not-Meredith life had happened <em>before</em>. It felt as if the lives were almost concurrent. Her memories blended in such a way that she felt like a total and complete person. There was no struggle between conflicting impulses because Meredith and not-Meredith weren’t in conflict. <em>They</em> were both <em>her</em> and <em>she</em> simply <em>was</em>.</p><p><em>I think, therefore I am</em>.</p><p>…</p><p>“So what’s the plan, Stan?”</p><p>Bella gripped the wheel, staring straight ahead.</p><p>“Oh, for crying out loud! It’s a <em>school</em>, Bella. Not a prison.”</p><p>The corner of her mouth curled up a little, but she said nothing.</p><p>“I suppose we could set something on fire, get sent to juvie, and compare it to an <em>actual</em> prison,” Meredith said contemplatively. “It wouldn’t look good for dad, but they could always blame it on the she-devil hippie-woman that stole his kids.”</p><p>That got a full smile. “We’re not going to set anything on fire.”</p><p>“Well, shucks, there goes my weekend plans.” Meredith reached over and poked Bella in the elbow. “The sooner we get in there, the sooner we can get our schedules and figure out how fucked we are.”</p><p>“<em>Meredith!</em>”</p><p>“Fuck, damn, shit, piss, bitch—”</p><p>Bella grabbed her bag, opened the door, and jumped out.</p><p>“Well,” Meredith said to the empty truck, “at least it got her moving.” A sharp rap at her window made her jump. She rolled it down and affixed a butter-wouldn’t-melt look on her face, “May I help you?”</p><p>Bella frowned at her. “Are you really going to make me go in there alone?”</p><p>“No, just talking to myself. Once more unto the breach!”</p><p>“And be damned him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’” Bella murmured grimly.</p><p>“Okay, <em>Debbie</em>,” Meredith said, bumping her shoulder into her twin’s.</p><p>“You started it.”</p><p>“Ugh, I don’t want to argue with you when I <em>need</em> you. People are <em>already</em> staring.”</p><p>“You love it when people stare.”</p><p>“When I’m <em>on a stage</em>, sure.”</p><p>The grim look on Bella’s face transformed into a mischievous little smirk, “All the world’s a stage—”</p><p>“I will <em>noogie</em> you, Isabella. Do not test me.”</p><p>The brief conversation had carried them across the parking lot and into the small building that seemed to function as an administration hub. Both girls put on smiles for the secretary at the front desk, Meredith’s the same sunny smile she had put on for her father, Bella’s more the sort of thing you saw on a retail worker’s face when a sudden rush came in thirty minutes before shift end. Both were fake as hell, but Meredith’s looked significantly more convincing.</p><p>“You must be the Swan twins!” the woman said, smiling.</p><p>“Oh, <em>must</em> we?” Meredith asked airily.</p><p>“She means ‘yes,’” Bella sighed.</p><p>The woman, ‘Mrs. Cope’ according to the placard on her desk, gave a huffy little laugh. “Here for your schedules?”</p><p>“Yes, please,” Bella said.</p><p>“Now, which one of you is Meredith, and which one of you is Isabella?”</p><p>“Bella, please,” she corrected.</p><p>“You can call me Mer, or Meredith, or Death,” Meredith said. “My name lends itself to weird nicknames.”</p><p>“Your <em>personality</em> lends itself to weird nicknames,” Bella hissed, obviously uncomfortable.</p><p>Meredith only rolled her eyes. Judging by the look on her face, Mrs. Cope found their exchange more funny than anything else. No harm, no foul. “Is there any flexibility in our schedules? In case we want to change anything?”</p><p>“Why don’t you <em>look</em> at your schedules first,” Mrs. Cope suggested.</p><p>“Good point, do you mind if we…?” Meredith hooked a thumb over her shoulder towards the chairs near the door.</p><p>“Here you are,” Mrs. Cope said, sliding two packets across her desk, “and go ahead, but keep an ear out for the bell.”</p><p>The twins moved over to the seats and put their heads together over their schedules. They had History and English together, but starting with third period they were split with Bella in Trig and Meredith in Physics, fourth period saw Bella in Spanish and Meredith in Trig, then a shared lunch, then split again with Bella in Biology II and Meredith in Speech, and finally together again for Gym.</p><p>Meredith spared a moment to feel <em>deeply conflicted</em> about Biology II.</p><p>“This looks right,” Bella said, scowling. “But I hoped—”</p><p>“Yeah, me too.”</p><p>“Do you want to change?”</p><p>Meredith continued to feel <em>deeply conflicted</em> about Biology II. She chewed her lip, thinking it over. “Let’s see if we can give it a day and then decide. Some of these classes might be ahead or behind what we were doing in Phoenix anyways.”</p><p>Bella nodded, turning back towards the front desk.</p><p>Mrs. Cope assured them that they could take a day to test things out but warned that <em>all</em> classes would be locked in, <em>no exceptions</em>, by the end of the week. In addition, any changes they wanted to make to their existing schedules would have to be signed off on by both the teacher whose class they were leaving as well as the teacher of the class they wanted in on.</p><p>Bella multitasked: grumbling about the restrictions even while she consulted the map they’d been given. Meredith kept a hand on her elbow, carefully steering her around people while she followed the directions her twin gave in between her complaints.</p><p>“Hi! Are you the Swan twins?”</p><p>The boy who had oh-so-cheerfully asked was short, preppily-dressed, and of clear East Asian descent.</p><p><em>Well, crap,</em> Meredith thought. <em>I guess this is more the movie canon than book canon?</em></p><p>“What my friend means to say is: hello, welcome to Forks, can we help you find your way?”</p><p>This <em>second</em> boy was a few inches taller than the first, and Meredith was immediately struck by the warm good humor in his face and manner.</p><p>“Hi, I’m Meredith Swan, this is my sister, Bella, and we could probably use some help, yeah.”</p><p>“Excellent!” The first boy rubbed his hands together, eyeing them greedily. “I’m Eric Yorkie. I run the school newspaper and you two are <em>news</em>.”</p><p>“Oh, <em>fantastic</em>,” Bella breathed, too low for anyone but Meredith to hear.</p><p>“I’m Ben Cheney,” the second boy offered. “And yes, he’s always like this,” he said, waving a hand at Eric.</p><p><em>Well, that throws my guess out. Ben didn’t exist in the movies, only in the books. Curiouser and curiouser</em>…</p><p>“Do new students always get a write-up?” Meredith asked.</p><p>“Always.”</p><p>“Well, keep it tasteful,” she said, shrugging philosophically.</p><p>“<em>Meredith!</em>”</p><p>“What? It’s a small town! Have some sympathy for the poor guy!”</p><p>Bella huffed, but acquiesced. “No pictures,” she told Eric firmly. “We’re identical,” she said, impatiently gesturing between Meredith and herself, “so if you get <em>her</em> picture, you’ve basically already <em>got</em> mine.”</p><p>“Ah, yes, the logic that got you out of four years-worth of yearbook photos,” Meredith said fondly. “But <em>boy</em> was our mom mad when she realized.”</p><p>Eric was looking between the two of them like Christmas had come early. “Do either of you write?”</p><p>“Not in this lifetime,” Meredith said brightly.</p><p>“I read,” Bella said.</p><p>“Oh.” Eric visibly deflated. “Could I get an interview?”</p><p>Meredith exchanged a look with Bella, then sighed. “If you write up a list of questions before lunch, then let us review it, we’ll give you an answer by tomorrow morning.”</p><p>“<em>Deal</em>,” he said, and immediately dashed off.</p><p>“Wow, news must be <em>really</em> slow around here.”</p><p>Ben gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Like I said, he’s <em>always</em> like this. What do you have first?”</p><p>“History, then English.”</p><p>He smiled, “Me too, I can help you find those. Could I see your schedule?”</p><p>Meredith handed both of them over and happily followed while he led them to their first class. On the way he inspected the rest of their schedules: they didn’t share any classes but the first two, and Varner the Trig teacher was apparently an asshole. Good information to have.</p><p>The history course was an obvious repeat, both Bella and Meredith informed the teacher that they would be switching out at the end of the class. He signed off on their forms, understanding that they had no desire to repeat a near-identical curriculum. The English class was fine, but about half the reading list was stuff they’d covered previously and the other half was comprised of things the twins had read recreationally. They informed the teacher of this, and of their need for certain flexibility, and he signed off on a potential switch as well.</p><p>They stopped in the hall as they exited English.</p><p>“You ready for this?” Meredith asked.</p><p>“Forewarned is forearmed,” Bella said. Her next class was Trig, with the teacher they'd been warned was a jerk.</p><p>“Yeah, but—”</p><p>Bella rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Mer. Go away.”</p><p>“Such <em>love!</em>” Meredith laughed, swatting at her twin’s arm.</p><p>“You’re a ridiculous person.”</p><p>“Love you too, Belly-boo.”</p><p>“<em>Go away</em>.”</p><p>Meredith waited until she was facing away from her sister to let her smile drop.</p><p>The funny thing about having read a book series and watched some movies was: she knew what happened to Bella <em>alone</em>. She knew that Bella didn’t see any vampires on her first day until lunch. Essentially, Meredith knew where the vampires <em>weren’t</em>. But she was about to go to Physics, a class never shown in the books <em>or</em> the films.</p><p>“It’s a crapshoot,” she muttered to herself, then squared her shoulders.</p><p><em>Once more unto the breach</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I genuinely haven't decided on pairings so go off I guess. I am suggestible and susceptible. This doesn't mean 'scream a ship at me,' it means, 'feel free to present an idea or argument.' The only ships I can think of off the top of my head that I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT WRITE are any incestuous Swan ships.</p><p>Like, love, loathe entirely? Let me know!</p><p>I may not always respond but I genuinely treasure feedback like a dragon does their hoard.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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